strike a balance

Verb

strike a balance (third-person singular simple present strikes a balance, present participle striking a balance, simple past struck a balance, past participle struck a balance or (rare or archaic) stricken a balance)

1. To find a compromise between two conflicting things; to choose a moderate option between two extremes.
   • You should try to strike a balance between your social life and work life.
   • I like to think I strike a balance between being too strict and too lenient with my children.

   Synonyms:

   strike a medium

2. To bring out the relative state of a debtor and creditor account.
   • I'd like to wind up the accounts before—before—well, this time I shan't wait till the new year to strike a balance.c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act...